PlainSpeech Messages | Find YOUR way to GRACE.
I recently read a message I’d given in 1984 and felt a mixture of embarrassment and surprise. Embarrassed because it seems inadequate now, and surprised by how much my worldview has changed. Twenty-five years from now, I might read these messages and have a similar reaction. I offer no guarantee that my work or words will endure the eroding effects of time. I can only assure you these thoughts have been helpful to me, and perhaps a few others, today. With that qualification, I offer them to you.
~ Philip
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What in the World Were We Thinking (Adversarial Religion) Philip Gulley
I remember when I was in the sixth grade and my best friend was a boy named Joe who was a Jehovah’s Witness. I was still Catholic and believed Joe was going to hell so made it my purpose in life to point out the errors of his religion and convert him to the One True...
What In the World Were We Thinking? (Disownment for Marrying a Non-Quaker)
One of the things Joan and I have always enjoyed is antiquing, so when we renovated her family’s farmhouse, and had to furnish it, we went to Gilley’s Antique Mall in search of a chest of drawers for the downstairs bedroom. We found a beautiful handmade chest with a...
What In the World Were We Thinking? (A Dress Code? Seriously?)
The older I get, the more I look forward to summer, and this summer especially. It’s been several years since I’ve been to the state fair, and there’s something I’ve always wanted to do there, but never have, which is to visit the Pentecostal tent just inside the...
What in the World Were We Thinking? (Silence is Good for Everyone)
A friend phoned me recently, asking if he could borrow our Ford Flex. He didn’t say why he needed it, and I didn’t want to appear nosy, because if there’s one thing I’m not, it’s nosy, so I just said sure, come get it. A bit later I was looking out the window and saw...
What In the World Were We Thinking? (Our Belief in the End Times)
Well, that was some eclipse, wasn’t it? I hope you were able to enjoy it since we won’t have another one until 2153, 129 years from now. Thirty-five of us gathered on the kitchen porch here at the meetinghouse. Herb and Chris grilled hot dogs and we ate moon pies and...
What In the World Were We Thinking? (A Distrust of Leaders)
Some time ago, I wrote an essay about the abuse scandals in the Catholic Church. It got published and circulated around, and made its way back to Danville, to the Catholic Church where I had been raised. I knew that was likely to happen and had girded my loins, as the...
Cultures of Crucifixion – Easter 2024
There’s good news this week. If you’ve been putting off buying a Bible until the right one comes along, you’ll be pleased to know the official God Bless The USA Bible became available this week. It includes the King James version of the Bible, the Declaration of...
Cooperation, not Competition, as an Aspect of Community
I was being a curmudgeon the other day, talking with someone about how young people today don’t know anything about history, when it occurred to me that until I was 30 or so, the only thing I knew about World War II was what I learned from watching Hogan’s Heroes. A...
Quaker Qualities (Not Just Integrity, but Integration)
Several years ago, Joan and I were in Frostburg, Maryland, attending the sessions of Baltimore Yearly Meeting. For those of you not accustomed to our Quaker jargon, a yearly meeting is a collection or assemblage of local or monthly meetings, usually in the same...
Quaker Qualities (Not Simplicity, but Generosity)
When I was 32 years old, I received a phone call from the Friends World Committee for Consultation, asking if I would serve on their Executive Committee. This was a big deal in Quakerism, like being asked to serve on the college of cardinals and pick a new pope. I was...